Chapter 1- Arrival

April 6. 2012

Her footsteps were masked by the noise around her, and she looked straight ahead, eyes focused ahead, withought verring to any side of her as she did. She took a few more steps, then stopped abruptly, a man bashing into her, knocking her forward/ "Oh, My apologies." She said, scooting aside to allow the man to pass, who did so wit a grumble.

The sign read 'Iwatodai Dorm, but there were no senses of life inside- no one had been inside for a year or so. She walked over to it, turning the door handle witch unlocked itself for her. She strolled in... when was the last time she had been here? Surely not since Mina.-.. no, not since HE had brought her here.

As much as she wanted too, she could not tarry here. She longed to go into his room. Second floor, end of the hall on the right. She passed the second floor, and continued straight ahead. Up and up she went, right to the very top, and walked through the door that lead to the rooftop.

She looked up at the sky, where the full moon was shining down upon her, and she felt a rush of energy. Without a doubt she had come to the right place. 'It's almost midnight...' She thought to herself, pulling out a blank card. She paused, waiting until exactly 12:00:00. Not one second later, she raised the card up to the moon, where it shone with a bright light.

She nodded in satisfaction, placing the card in her book, then walked back into the dormitory, Looking around, she located a TV within the lobby. Nodding to herself, she dove right into it, her skinny figure barely making it inside, and all traces of her disappeared.

…

April 10, 2012

Not even a month, and already he was being shipped out again. What was he, a toy to be played with? That seemed to be the case, because Yu Narukami was off once again, to stay with some distant relative or other.

If he had the choice, he would have gone back to Inaba, hands down. He could still easily remember the adventures he had with all of his friends, the laughs, the moments of intense action, the feeling that came with solving a difficult case...

But no. God forbid that happen again. This time he was being sent off to some distant cousin at Tatsumi Port Island... Akihiko Something or other. He had a picture of him, and the only resemblance he could see was the silver hair... oh well, not the point, he supposed.

His phone gave a slight beep, and he reached for it, answering with a simple click. "Hello?"

"Yu! How's it going? Today's the day you move, right?" Came the cheery and energetic voice of Rise. He smiled, glad to hear from her.

"Yeah. I'm going to Port Island. I'm about halfway there. What are you up to?"

"Well, I just got off the set, so I figured I'd give you a call! Are... are you alright? Moving so suddenly again?" She asked, slightly worried, but not losing her energy.,"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm getting used to it. How's show biz going for you?"

"Super! I've gotten back into the swing of thing's no problem! I'm actually going to be shooting near you son, so we should definitely go out on a date then!"

Yu gave a slight smile. "I'll be counting on it."

"Alright, well I gotta go! Call ya later!" Rise said, promptly hanging up. Yu shut his cell, replacing it in his pouch, then continued staring outside, the movement of trains all too familiar to him.

"So, I'll be graduating here." Yu said, his face expressionless. He reached into his suitcase, picking out a piece of paper- his registration forms. "Gekkoukan High School..." He thought to himself. He had been there about a half year ago. It had been an incredibly huge place... and incredibly boring too. He enjoyed Club Escapade a lot more... or at least, what all he could remember from that still hazy night. Now, he was heading there as a third year student. Who would have thought?"

"Iwatodai. Iwatodai. This is the stop for those getting off at Tatsumi Port Island." The conductor said over the intercom.

That was fast. Yu grabbed his suitcase, among one of the first to disembark, Hitting the concrete as smoothly as ever. He took a few steps forward to allow the other people off, than began taking a look around.

He spotted his new guardian almost immediately. After all, silver hair wasn't exactly a common color. Dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans, he waved as he saw Yu approach. "Hey. I'm Akihiko Samada... It's nice to meet you. "

They shook hands... man, he had quite a grip! "Thanks. I'm glad to meet you as well... well, I take it you don't want to stand here?"

"To the point. Good, I won't have to talk as much." He said, seemingly relieved. "I would treat you to Hagakure, but that'll have to wait. Minako is making supper as her way of saying hello."

"Minako?" Yu asked

"Oh, I guess you wouldn't know. You aren't the only student that will be staying with me this year. There's a woman staying with us too, goes by the name of Minako Arisato. She's a third year, just like you."

"Oh, that's new." He said. He never had lived with a woman his age before. "i didn't get much from my parents.. .your studying to become a policeman?"

"That's right." Akihiko said, leading them to a small black Volvo. "I'm in the academy now. It's going rather well for me too. Lots of training."

"That's cool." Yu said. It was getting clear that he didn't talk to people all too much, so he remained silent, until they got home.

…

"This is it." Akihiko said, closing the card door, looking at a two floor home. "Its smaller then it looks, really. Most of your stuff is here too and in your room, so unpack when you have the chance."

"Thanks." Yu said, grabbing his suitcase and walking through the door.

He was rewarded with a nice smell as he walked in. "Welcome came a cherry call, and the sound of plates hitting the table were heard. A few footsteps later, and out came a young woman, still dressed in the black school uniform. Reddish-brown hair flowed into a ponytail, and she had the reddest eyes he had ever seen. "You Yu Narukami right? Minako Arisato, nice to meet you!" She said

They shook hands, and with a gesture, they sat down. Rice, meat, and eggs greeted them. They grabbed their chopsticks and began chowing down.

As he ate, Yu began to look around the room of his new home. In the corner was the living room, mostly because in the center was a workout station- weights, barbells, the works. To the side was a staircase going up, presumably to the personal rooms.

"So, you're in the same grade as me, right?" Minako asked, attacking her food. "I wonder if we'll be in the same class. I hope so, It would be easier to study with someone else then alone."

"That's true. Here's hoping." Yu said with an enthusiastic nod, biting into a steak. "This is really good! Did you make this yourself?"

"Sure did! I did all the cooking back at my old house, so this is a snap!"

"Why did you decide to move over here? Was it just to attend Gekkoukan? " Yu asked out of curiosity.

"This was my hometown, but we moved away about 12 years ago, when my parents died. For the longest time, It was just me and my brother. My brother decided to transfer back here for some odd reason."

"So you followed him here? Why aren't you living with him?"

The room temperature suddenly seemed to drop forty or so degrees, and both Minako and Akihiko had a sad look in their eyes. "Because he's dead. He died a year after coming here."

"I'm... I'm sorry." Yu said, wishing he never mentioned it.

"It's alright. I'm mainly here to see what drew his interest... and to find out what killed him. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with him, so I don't think it was natural causes." She said In all seriousness, taking a sip of something to drink. "I didn't get the news until the end of last year. So I began making preparations to move, and here I am."

"Her brother was a good friend of mine." Akihiko explained. "So, I offered my place. Mitsuru Kirijo is financially backing her expenses, so she's going to have a decent life here."

Once they had finished dinner, Yu helped Minako clean the dishes, just how he used to help Nanako, and sat down to watch TV.

The bell rang and, without Akihiko answering it, in came a beautiful young woman with incredibly red hair and a clean outfit. "I'm coming in." She said

"Huh. Didn't know you were going to show up." Akihiko said, then turned towards the other two. "I was just telling them about you. Yu, Minako, this is Mitsuru Kirijo."

Minako dashed over, grabbed her hand, and shook it, bowing a bit. "Thank you for your help! I'm Minako!"

Mitsuru gave a sad smile. "Minato helped me out a lot back when... back when he was alive. The second I learned he had kin, I knew I had to help. He meant a lot to me." She said. Yu figured he meant more than a lot if she was backing all of Minako's funds, but he decided not to mention that.

"Yu Narukami." He introduced himself. "I'm Akihiko's.. what? Second cousin?" Yu asked, checking for his own memory.

"That's right. He'll be staying here too. Did you come just to visit us?"

"That, and I managed to secure some time off." Mitsuru said, producing a bottle of wine. "Care if we... err... 'Hang out'?"

"You're getting better." Akihiko said. "Come on, I'll pour you a glass.

"Dishes are done... do you want to go to the mall?" Minako asked, pulling out a music player, setting the headphones around her shoulders.

Yu thought about it, then nodded. "Alright, we'll head out then." He said, the two leaving them alone.

…

'Well, I learned one thing out of all of this." Yu said, walking back into the door., stretching.

"Oh, and what's that?" Minako asked, a slight laugh playing around her lips.

"I can't sing to save my life."

"True, you can't." Minako readily agreed. "But you had fun, didn't you? Isn't that what matters?"

"Good point." He said, wondering where Akihiko and Mitsuru were, locating them fast asleep, their heads on the table. "They must have been here the whole time... Wine doesn't help with that, either." Yu said from experience. "She's supposed to be really famous, right? I would think she would kno better."

"Adults will be adults." Minako said, waking the two up. Mitsuru gav her thanks, walking out, already sober. They both blinked that was pretty quick.

"Alright, I'm off to be." Akihiko said. "Sleep well." He said, walking upstairs.

"Our turn to hit the sack." Minako said wit a yawn, waving goodnight as she walked up stairs, and Yu headed to his room, almost triping over his things. Taking about an hour n a half, he sorted his things out, then promptly went to sleep.

…

When he woke up, he put on his new uniform, and had breakfast with Minato. "Akihiko already left. He usually leaves pretty early." She explained, nd Yu nodded. "Well, let's get going to school!" She said, leading him onto a monorail.

"I like the view. From here." Yu said, gazing out into the sea below. The quiet blue, the serene ocean leading onto a very clean looking school, the old man with the incredibly long nose staring at him with bloodshot eyes...

...wait... What?

Yu turned around. Minako and the other passengers had disappeared. In front of him was the old man Yu immediately recognized as Igor. To his right, the ever-present Margaret, who gave him a secret smile.

"Welcome to The Velvet Room once again, My dear young man..."